D`arco: I Expect 2nd Indictment

Legislator Tells Court He May Face Judge-bribing Charges

November 20, 1991|By Matt O`Connor.

State Sen. John D`Arco Jr. finished four days of testimony Tuesday in his bribery trial, revealing to a federal jury that he expects to lose his law license and be indicted on charges of bribing a judge to fix a court case.

D`Arco denied that he broke down crying on a public telephone in City Hall after learning of longtime friend Robert Cooley`s undercover government role two years ago.

D`Arco, 47, an assistant majority leader of the state Senate, is on trial on charges he took bribes from Cooley to influence legislation.

Undergoing sometimes bruising questioning, D`Arco admitted he was wrong to take $1,000 from Cooley in October 1989, with a promise to pass the cash to then-Judge Anthony Scotillo to fix a Chancery Court case.

But D`Arco maintained he lied to Cooley and never bribed Scotillo, who is now retired and has never been charged with wrongdoing.

D`Arco steadfastly denied charges he took bribes from Cooley after agreeing to introduce legislation, calling $5,000 in cash he accepted in December 1989 a legal ``retainer`` to help Cooley represent corporate clients. Federal prosecutors objected after D`Arco disclosed to the jury that he expected to be indicted for the alleged Scotillo fix. Assistant U.S. Attys. Thomas Durkin and Michael Shepard contended D`Arco tipped the jury to the impending indictment to curry sympathy-a charge denied by defense lawyers Ed Genson and Marc Martin.

U.S. District Judge George Lindberg, presiding over the trial, told jurors to disregard D`Arco`s comment about the indictment.

D`Arco testified that he learned that Cooley was a federal agent in late November 1989 while he was in Counsellors Row, a restaurant then located across from City Hall. He said he called his wife from City Hall to set up an emotional face-to-face meeting with her, but he said he didn`t recall crying over the telephone as he talked to her.

An FBI special agent later testified Tuesday that he saw D`Arco drop the telephone receiver, gasp, hold his head, cry out ``Oh, my God!`` and weep on the afternoon of Nov. 30, 1989, the day Cooley`s undercover role became public.

As he talked on a pay telephone, D`Arco ``gasped like he was in pain, almost as if the wind had been knocked out of him,`` agent David Childre said. Under questioning by Genson, Childre admitted he had no idea who D`Arco was talking with or what he was talking about on the phone.